European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP
European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP
European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP
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The petition was submitted on line in April 2006, accepted <strong>and</strong> the first hearing<br />
of the Petitions Committee took place in November that year, with the President<br />
<strong>and</strong> spokesperson of ‘Veins de Parcent’ present, along with the then Mayor<br />
of Parcent defending the plans. Prior to the meeting all <strong>MEP</strong>s on the Petitions<br />
Committee were informed by email of the case <strong>and</strong> its implications, asking for<br />
their support <strong>and</strong> meetings were also held with a number of <strong>MEP</strong>S. <strong>Diana</strong> <strong>Wallis</strong><br />
from the ALDE group was already knowledgeable on the subject of urban planning<br />
abuses in Spain due to her involvement in previous petitions from campaign<br />
groups such as the AUN.<br />
Viens de Parcent was successful in gaining support from a broad cross section<br />
of <strong>MEP</strong>S. This united support, across country <strong>and</strong> political lines was key to the<br />
petition being kept open <strong>and</strong> the Commission becoming involved in examining<br />
potential violations of EU directives involved in the building plans. These challenges<br />
centred on the lack of environmental <strong>and</strong> water reports <strong>and</strong> the potential<br />
violation of free market regulations under the LRAU, an aspect which was subsequently<br />
sited by the Commission in infringement proceedings.<br />
Whilst this process was continuing we were fortunate to be included in the fact<br />
finding mission of the Petitions Committee to the area <strong>and</strong> to be included in the<br />
subsequent report approved by plenary of the <strong>European</strong> Parliament in July 2007.<br />
In May 2007 the administration in the Parcent Town Hall was changed <strong>and</strong> replaced<br />
by a CDP majority administration (Democratic Coalition of Parcent), a coalition<br />
of local people, including the President <strong>and</strong> spokesperson of Veins de Parcent,<br />
(who resigned their roles in the Association on being elected) who campaigned on<br />
a platform supporting a more sustainable development for Parcent. Subsequently<br />
the new council started the process of checking the legal status of the plans, confirming<br />
the lack of the necessary environmental impact <strong>and</strong> water reports.<br />
The Mayor <strong>and</strong> Deputy Mayor represented Parcent on two further occasions in<br />
the petitions committee, where the Parcent case was investigated by Mrs Magrete<br />
Auken <strong>MEP</strong> <strong>and</strong> included in her report approved by Parliament in 2009.<br />
The effect of the continuous support of members of the Petitions Committee<br />
for a resolution to the problems posed by the large scale urbanisation plans was<br />
crucial in the eventual outcome of the case. Firstly it hugely raised the morale of<br />
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<strong>European</strong> <strong>Property</strong> <strong>Wrongs</strong>